


Stockholm Syndrome

by Skitterific



Category: Creepypasta - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Blood, Creepypasta, Cruelty, Dark, Death, Detailed Gore, Drama, F/M, Fanfiction, Gore, Horror, Injury, Murder, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Psychological Trauma, Romance, Spooky, Stockholm Syndrome, Suspense, Terror, Thriller, Torture, Twisted Romance, Word that rhymes with terror, slight PewDiePie and Cryaotic cameo, ticci toby - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-07-13
Packaged: 2019-04-19 12:48:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 21,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14237634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skitterific/pseuds/Skitterific
Summary: Kidnapping is a horrible thing to endure, especially to a teenaged girl. Taken away from her family and being held captive by a supposed killer with psychotic tendencies, Anne Jennings will try everything in her power to survive, even if it means giving up the last scrap with humanity she has left.Story is also on Wattpad.





	1. Chapter 1

Tap. Taaap. Taaap.

The light tapping of something against Anne's window woke up that same person sleeping in the warm comfort of bed. Anne had no idea why she was suddenly startled awake, for she didn't have any nightmares tonight, nor did she hear the actual tapping against her window.

Tap. Taaap.

There it was again. The impatient sound of something against the glass ringing in her ears. Maybe it was just her imagination. Maybe it was just the nearby tree rapping against the window, begging to be let in.

Anne laid still, holding her breath, waiting to see if the tapping would continue on.

Taaap. Tap. Taaap.

It indeed continued forth, though followed by another one. It seemed to be in a certain rhythm, a pattern, for only some people could decipher. 

Anne couldn't decide whether to stand up and check the other side of the window, just to see what it was, though it would alert her presence to whatever was on the other side. She finally concluded that she would check after one more tap. It would get annoying and repetitive after a while if it didn't stop, and she wouldn't get any sleep either.

Tap.

Anne pushed aside the covers of her bed, doing her best not to make to much noise for her parents were in the other room, sleeping soundly and peacefully, though it would be exceedingly difficult to wake them up. They slept like the dead in the silence of night.

Tap. Tap. Taaap.

Anne's warm feet touched the floor sending shivers up her spine, the bare coldness of it surprising her. It took everything she had to not just flop back onto the bed and fall back asleep.

Tap. Taaap. Tap.

She made her way over to the windowsill which was merely a few feet away from her bed. It was hard to see, seeing as how it was the middle of the night, only the hint of moonlight shining through her curtains making the outlines of objects visible. Every step Anne took sent more and more shivers down her spine, mostly due to the fact that she had no socks on and that the house's heater wasn't turned on even though it was the beginning of winter.

Tap. Taaap.

Anne was only a few inches away from the window. Only a few inches away from yanking open the curtains to see what was on the other side. To see if it was of importance or not. Only a few inches away. 

Though, she was feeling slightly hesitant. As if something begged her not to, as if her bed was beckoning her to come back with sweet dreams of a new day tomorrow. But her curiosity was stronger than the urge to just give up on whatever was tap, tap, tapping on the window. Just a few inches away.

Tap. Taaap. Tap. Taaap.

Anne yanked open the curtains, and to her surprise, she saw...

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing except the pale moonlight steaming through the window and the woods that faced her window. Nothing more. Nothing less. The entire journey from her bed to her window had been entirely pointless, the woods laughing at her idiotic self. What did she expect to find? A bird that had gotten lost in the night and pecked away at the window, trying to find a bug to eat to keep it going? A branch from a nearby tree just tapping away with the wind? Someone just tapping on her window, wondering if whoever was inside would wake up? 

Whatever she thought, she pushed it aside, closed the curtains, and slowly went back to bed. As she pulled the warm covers on top of her and was about to rest her eyes for the few hours of night that remained, the tapping persisted.

Taaap. Taaap. Tap.

It felt as if the noises were insulting her, as if they were making fun of her because she couldn't figure out what was repeatedly tapping. As if it was all just some fun game.

Anne got out of bed once more with an irritated and exasperated look on her face. She wanted the insistent tapping to stop so she could get some sleep and not have to worry about anything through the night, though that might be a problem seeing as how the soft yet loud tapping continued.

Taaap. Taaap. Taaap. Taaap. Taaap. Taaap.

The taps sounded more like something was intentionally tapping away at the screen than just an inanimate object making the noise because of the wind.

Tap. Tap. Taaap. Taaaap. Tap. Taaap. Tap. Taaap. Tap. Taaap.

Anne yanked open the curtains once more to find nothing. Again. She was starting to get aggravated at this point. The constant noise itself was enough to make her go insane. The curiosity of what was making that noise aggravated her more, however.

Knowing that she probably won't be getting anymore sleep tonight seeing as how she was already out of bed and wide awake, she decided to go get a glass of water to calm her nerves. 

The sudden light in the kitchen temporarily blinded her when she flicked on the lightswitch, causing her to squint and let her eyes adjust to the brightness. Once she could finally see again, she grabbed an unopened bottle of water from the fridge. Her parents weren't exactly big fans of tap water, so they always bought water bottles.

Once she drank about a quarter of it, she put it back. Then, a strange urge came over her. Her curiosity came back to her in a wave and she wanted to know what had made that tapping noise. She had found it annoying that she hadn't found anything when she opened her window curtains, so she decided that the next best thing to do would be to go outside and check to see what was making the constant sounds. If it were a raccoon or another animal, she'd be able to shoo it away with the broken old broom that they still had yet to throw away and was lying up against the wall of the house outside.

Having decided what to do, Anne grabbed her phone from her room, grabbed a light jacket, and opened the front door to go outside. The cold wind instantly hit Anne's face making her shiver slightly and snuggle into the warmth of her jacket which was not doing as well as she hoped against the cold. Seeing as how she'd be out and back in the house in only a few minutes, she continued on while turning on the flashlight app on her phone. 

The cold air nipped at Anne's legs seeings as how she only had on pajama bottoms. She unintentionally put her legs closer together to try and conserve heat.

She made her way to her window, though now she was on the other side. She almost fell due to a few scattered twigs here and there that she failed to notice, even when her flashlight illuminated almost everything in front of her.

When she finally made it to her window, she noticed that there was nothing there. No animal making weird noises, no tree limb, no nothing. Anne frowned at this sight, still wondering what could have possibly made that tapping noise.

That's when she heard a twig snap behind her. She whipped her head towards the noise to find...

Nothing. Not even any animal prints. She was getting somewhat sick of finding nothing. She wanted to know what the hell was even going on.

Suddenly, something covered her nose and mouth. She almost yelped in surprise, though she couldn't make a sound seeing as her cries were muffled. She tried to struggled, but her limbs grew weaker and weaker until she fell unconscious. The last thing she heard was a low chuckle, then darkness overtook everything.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Anne wakes up in an unfamiliar place.

A little beam of sunlight shone in Anne's eyes, waking her up from her dreamless slumber. She yawned and tried to move her arms to get up and stretch, though she was surprised to see that she couldn't move them.

She lightly gasped as she felt a little burn at her wrists as she pulled. Her hands were tied by ropes and attached to the bed. She was startled to see that there were even ropes on her ankles, making it almost impossible to move. 

Anne started panicking, trying to pull at the ropes to make them come loose, but to no avail. She was stuck, and where she was stuck, she had no idea, though it looked like a small gray room by the looks of it. She could see only two doors, one to her left, and one across from her.

Anne struggled to reserve how she got in this predicament. First of all, she remembered the tap, tap, tapping on her window. She couldn't sleep because of it, so she went to investigate. She assumed that it had been a raccoon or a wild animal, but instead, her curiosity got her into deep trouble. She remembers something pressed against her nose and mouth, making her pass out. She's seen plenty of movies to know what that something had been, considering where she was.

It had been someone blocking her airways with a chloroform riddled rag, making her pass out. Who it was, she had no idea. She suddenly grew terrified at the thoughts of who it could be. Maybe a rapist? A murderer? A serial killer?

Anne knew better than to scream and yell for help. After all, her kidnapper could be anywhere in the place or house she was in. Why wouldn't the kidnapper put a gag on the victim if he or she knew that there were people and neighbors nearby? Anne could only hope that her parents were safe and would call the police because her parents hadn't found her in bed to wake her up for school or anywhere around the house.

After a few minutes of doing nothing and just contemplating what to do if the kidnapper would ever show his or her face, the door on Anne's left slowly opened up.

Anne tensed her body as the door creaked open, revealing a young looking man, probably only nineteen at the most, wearing the strangest pair of orange tinted goggles and mouth guard. His appearance caught Anne slightly off-guard, but she didn't put her defenses down just yet. Who knows what he was capable of?

"Good to see that you're awake," the strange man said with a slightly gruff, though still young, voice.

Anne just stayed silent, eyeing the new stranger and most likely kidnapper with caution. He didn't exactly look like he could be a murderer, but something about him seemed off. 

Anne slightly jumped when the man's head violently twisted to the side, making a sickening pop. Anne cringed at the noise, afraid that he had broken his own neck in just one move because if he died, there would be no way she would be able to get out of the room.

"S-Sorry, about that," the man stuttered involuntarily, internally cursing himself for freaking her out. Not exactly the best first impression. "That happens sometimes."

That statement didn't make the slight fear and resentment escape Anne's eyes. In fact, Anne didn't trust this strange man at all. Of course she didn't. No one in their right mind would if they were in Anne's situation.

Though she couldn't help but feel the slightest bit of worry come over her as his head spasmed again. He most likely had a case of Tourette's syndrome. Anne sadly knew how Tourette's could affect a person's life. For one, she had a little sister that had Tourette's syndrome and a learning disability. Marley was always complaining about how she was teased in school and how the kids were calling her mean names. Anne would always comfort her while her parents went to Marley's elementary school to try and fix the bullying problem that was going on, though that never changed anything.

"Who are you? Where am I?" Anne's voice slightly wavered against her wish and she cursed her timidness and fear. Fear at this moment could get her killed.

"The name's Toby," Toby said, then with a slight chuckle, he added, "As to where you are, I can't exactly say.  Don't want to finding your way home, now do we?"

"Why'd ya kidnap me, huh?" Anne suddenly said, a new bravado filling her voice as her women's intuition took over. "Was it to fulfill some sick, perverted fantasy of yours? Or are you gonna torture me and make me your servant?"

"God, you really think I'm that twisted?" Toby asked with disbelief in his voice.  He was probably wondering where women could get all these crazy assumptions from.

Anne stayed silent, as if answering Toby's question. She actually did think that it was possible that he could be twisted. She didn't know this guy, so who's to say that he isn't some kind of psycho murderer that also likes to kidnap people.

"I'll take that as a yes," Toby muttered, then said with a new gleam that Anne had never seen before in his eyes behind the goggles. "I actually didn't have any reason to kidnap you. I was just bored."

Anne was taken aback when he said that. All he was, was bored? He has no other goal to achieve in this except to sate his ever growing boredom. This man, Toby, was truly insane. To kidnap someone just because of boredom is madness. Doesn't he know that he could be caught and arrested at any moment? Though it didn't seem like he cared in the slightest. He actually looked somewhat laid back, as if anticipating what Anne would do next. Would she scream and yell for help, even though they were miles away from civilization? Or would she shut her mouth just so she doesn't appease the kidnapper? So many endless possibilities that could happen as a consequence from all this, but she could only choose one path to walk on.

And he left at those words. Just to let the harsh reality sink in.

I was just bored.

Those words stuck themselves in Anne's head, refusing to let go from their spot in her mind. It was because he was bored, he said. He has nothing better to do. He just wanted to do something entertaining, and to him, this was fun. That thought left a disgusting taste in Anne's mouth, making her want water. Though, now she guessed she could only get water when he gave her some, and she had no idea when that would be. Maybe he would just let her dehydrate until all of her organs failed on her and she was just lying dead on the bed like a water deprived fish.

Anne didn't dare struggle anymore. She didn't want to lose any blood. Losing blood meant losing the precious liquid that she had running inside her, which would mean that she would need to have water earlier than she could survive without. So instead, she waited. And waited. And waited. Until she fell asleep in the same uncomfortable position that she had woken up in.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Anne realizes you can't trust what someone gives you.

Anne woke up once again with the sun shining bright in her eyes. She was slightly blinded at the moment from the intensity of it, but tilted her head out of the way of the sun's rays. She blinked to focus her eyes and make the spots go away, only to notice the figure sitting in a chair at her bedside. It was Toby again, though this time, he was staring at Anne in such a way that she couldn't describe, except that she felt like prey.

"I was wondering when you'd wake up," Toby said with a monotone voice. "You've been out for more than sixteen hours. You must be thirsty, huh?"

Anne was indeed thirsty, for she hadn't had a thing to drink since the night she was kidnapped. If she had known she was going to be taken, she would have drank more water. Or at the very least, not gone outside. Now that she thinks back on it, it was a very stupid idea in the first place. She really hoped that her parents had called the police now.

Toby reached down and picked up something from the floor. It was a glass filled with the cold substance, water. The glass was clean and pristine, the water slightly shimmering in the sunlight. To anyone else, it would seem like a regular glass of water, but to Anne, after not having anything to drink for about two days, it looked like heaven. She could just imagine the smooth water rushing down her throat, moistening every area in her mouth that was dry, curing her of her current migraine.

But for all Anne knew, it could be poisoned with Ethylene Glycol. She's watched too many horror movies and detective shows to not suspect a glass of water given by a stranger. Especially if that stranger was your kidnapper. 

Even if she was really thirsty, she could survive a few more days without water, right?

Toby carefully stood up and put the rim of the glass on Anne's lips, trying not to twitch. The water smelt somewhat sweet but bitter, as if someone had lightly doused it in a flowery perfume then added a hint of an alcoholic beverage, probably vodka, in it. Before any of the liquid could pass through Anne's lips and into her mouth, Anne yanked her head to the side and bit one of Toby's fingers instead, using enough pressure that should be able to draw blood. It worked, though not in the way Anne expected.

She could taste the iron of the blood in her mouth, but Toby hadn't moved an inch. Amusement was plastered on his face at the attempt of defiance, though Anne couldn't see it behind the mouth guard. She was a smart one. 

He actually HAD laced the drink with a poison, cyanide to be more specific, but just small traces for a slow and painful death. She was lucky that none had gotten on her skin when she bit him, or else she'd be experiencing some painful symptoms such as tachypnea, convulsions, hypotension, and even death.

She was actually as smart as she looked.

Toby pulled away the cup, making sure his twitching was under control so he doesn't accidently douse both himself and the girl with a lethal liquid. It would be hard to explain why he had skin lesions all over his body and why he smelled like bitter almonds.

He then left without saying another word. Anne was confused at this. Wouldn't he force her to drink the liquid? And why didn't he do anything when she bit him? Was he actually expecting it, or was it something else keeping him from hissing at the pain of his torn skin? 

Thinking about all of these things just made Anne's migraine worse. In the end, she decided to just think of nothing except for the quiet of the room. For being the victim at a kidnapping, it wasn't all that exciting. If she were ever kidnapped, she would imagine that she was held at gunpoint and was crying for her life, but this was a bit dull. She didn't even think that this Toby guy had any weapons at all. 

After a few minutes, Anne began to feel a pressure at the pit of her stomach. She very badly had to go to the bathroom now. But she would just have to hold it and hope for an opportunity to go to the bathroom, though that seemed very unlikely. 

When Anne knew that Toby wasn't going to come back for the day, she let her eyes fall closed and fell asleep.   
~

It was night by the time Anne came around into consciousness. She was slightly startled by how much moonlight was shining in through the small window above her, though it didn't light up the room all the way, only casting a dim glow that made most things visible.

Anne wriggled her body to try and massage the crick in her back only to notice that her wrists were no longer held up by the ropes and we're instead free. She lowered her arms to her sides, sighing in relief when her joints popped and cracked from being in the position for so long. Then, she sat up and stretched blissfully, thanking everything that was high and holy that she was free from those tight bonds. 

How she didn't notice Toby coming into the room and untying her then attaching a chain anklet to her leg, she would probably never know.

Anne rubbed her wrists which had burns going all around them and grimaced. It was slightly painful to move her hand back and forth, but she could handle the pain. After a few minutes of trying to get the feeling back in her legs, she stood up, noticing that a long chain was attached to her ankle like a prisoner in a jailhouse. At least she could walk around freely, though it wasn't as long as she expected.

As soon as Anne got up, she went to the door that Toby always entered and exited through, though obviously enough, it was locked. She then went to the other door that had been across from her bed. It swung open easily, though it had a slight creaking sound to it. It led to a hallway that had another room attached to the end of it. In that room was nothing but a makeshift toilet made out of a hole in the ground and wooden planks as the seat and a small light bulb that was shining dimly overhead. Anne shuddered at the though of using it, though she probably had no choice. She was lucky that the chain was just long enough to reach the end of the room.

She was disappointed to see that there was no shower so that she could wash off the stench of sleep nor a sink where she could wash her face or brush her teeth. Did Toby have something against water?

After closing the door behind her and listening carefully to see if she heard any footfalls, (The door didn't have a lock.) she did her business and left to go back to what was her prison room.

She was surprised to find a bottle of cold water sitting in the middle of the room. She didn't hear the door opening or anything while she was in the other room. She picked up the bottle and studied it closely. It appeared to be unopened and there weren't any substances on the outside that signified that any poisons were added to the drink.

Anne decided to do some tests to see if it were actually poisoned or not, not trusting anything that came from the guy with the weird goggles. 

For once, the detective shows on television helped in real life. First, Anne lightly shook the bottle watching the liquid swish from side to side. It was hardly making any bubbles, so she assumed that it was somewhat safe to handle. Next, she opened the bottle and took a whiff of it, only to find that it smelled like nothing. Nothing of bitter almonds, which is what cyanide should smell like. Nothing sweet either, which meant that it was most likely safe to drink. One last test, and a risky one at that, she did was put a single drop of water on her fingertip. After a few minutes of getting no reactions from the skin contact, Anne out the drink up to her chapped lips and drank. It was hard at first, considering that her throat was incredibly dry, but it got easier the more she drank. She soon finished the entire bottle in one go and placed it back to where it had originally been.

With that done, Anne lied back down in her bed, with nothing but trying to think of a way to escape on her mind. After all, what else could she do but hope?  



	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Anne tries to stay positive.

It was getting harder and harder to tell how much time has passed since Anne's confinement. She sleeps through most of the mornings and wakes up at night, just to be able to stretch and walk around. Every night, Toby would chain her ankle to the bed instead of just keeping her immobile on the bed, which to him was being considerate. The only way she knew that the day wasn't just repeating over and over again was the small window of hope above her bed. The snow had just started coming in, though only in small flurries which made the nights in the dark room feel colder seeing as there was really nothing to insulate the heat in the room. Just bare, gray walls.

During these times of cold and loneliness, Anne tried to think positively. 

'What good is happening at the moment? Well, for one I'm alive. Second, I'm not going to die of dehydration. Thirdly, Toby doesn't seem like such a bad guy. He's just a little...loose in the head. Yeah.'

No matter what optimistic thoughts Anne had though, the pessimistic ones always drove them all the way home.

'I'm not gonna get out of this alive, am I? I'm gonna die here alone, maybe freezing to death, or if that doesn't get me first, starve to death. Nobody is going to know I'm dead except for my kidnapper. My parents probably just thought that I had just run away and I would come back in a few days because I was just having a 'phase'. I have been a little harsh to them before my disappearance, but that was just because of the amount of stress on my shoulders. Did they even call the police to help look for me?'

Anne's optimism went up slightly at the smell of warm food when she woke up late at night. She was wondering if she were having a vivid dream, but when her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she saw a platter of food just in front of the door, the place where Toby always left her water nowadays, though the water was sitting right beside the plate.

Anne's eyes widened and her mouth started watering hungrily as she eyed it. She practically lunged from the bed to tear at the meal that she was blessed with. Granted it was only mashed potatoes, soup, and a little bit of chicken that looked pretty bland, but to Anne, it was heaven. After not having food for almost a week, anything that she could put in her mouth and swallow seemed like a decent enough meal for her. She had even contemplated whether or not she should eat her pillow and just imagine it as a giant marshmallow.

Even though her stomach commanded her to viciously and quickly eat the meal Anne was provided with like a savage animal, she ate it slowly, not caring if it were poisoned it not. She would've been dead if she didn't eat anything soon anyways. She savored every bite of every thing on the plate. To her, nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the tastes factor. The soup was actually exceedingly well prepared, not just everyday ramen. It had the perfect blend of mild spiciness and sweetness and just had an amazing taste overall. Or maybe that was just Anne's stomach talking.

After finishing the meal, Anne was still kind of hungry, yet satisfied. The days without food had left Anne somewhat scrawny, and the lack of sunlight made Anne's usually somewhat pale skin almost snow white. Her cheekbones had even been somewhat visible on her face and she had bags under her eyes from a weird sleeping schedule.

Toby hasn't made an appearance for a while now. It seemed like that he only had time to bring Anne food and water but nothing else, not even to have a little conversation, though Anne probably wouldn't answer him anyway. She wanted nothing to do with her kidnapper.

Though one morning, Anne noticed that she still had the chain around her ankle and that she wasn't completely tied up. She almost jumped in joy when she realized that she could finally sleep comfortably instead of in the same position all night. She swore that if she laid down in that position anymore when she slept, she'd get paralysis.

Since Anne was starting to get more privileges and such, did that mean that Toby was starting to get attached to her? It's happened before in all the detective shows that she watched, so it could be a possibility. Maybe if she sucked up to him enough, he would let her go. That was just wishful thinking though. He probably wouldn't let her go considering that she knows what he looks like. All it would take was to visit a police station and give them the description of the perpetrator and he would be caught red handed in no time.

A few more days had passed before Toby finally decided to pay a visit to Anne's 'jail cell'. The only thing Anne was doing at the moment of his entry was looking out the small window watching small flurries of snow pass by, clinging onto whatever they could find. She rubbed her shoulders self consciously trying to warm up her body since she was starting to get chilly.

Her head snapped towards the door when she heard it creak open. She eyed the intruder cautiously, wondering what he was doing here since there was no reason for him to unless she had been right about one of her accusations, though if he wanted her to die, he wouldn't have left her food and water. And sure it was cold, but not cold enough to cause hypothermia.

"Wazzup," Anne said dryly with her voice cracking a slight bit. She winced at that. She hasn't spoken in days and to be honest, she was missing social interaction. She didn't really like being alone during long periods of time. Even if she were just talking to someone over text, she'd feel better. Now, she somewhat craved the feeling of talking to someone, be it friend or stranger, hell, even her kidnapper, though she was still wary of him.

Toby held a spark of amusement in his eyes. "Nothin' much. Wazzup with you?"

"Same ol' same ol'. Just being Batman and brooding in the corner while contemplating life," Anne replied sarcastically, for some reason feeling slightly relaxed. Since when had she become so...loose, seeing as she couldn't find another word to describe how she was acting at the moment. Could it be the lack of social interaction, or was it the lack of sunlight she was receiving? A small window above her bed did little to nothing for her skin. She needed the fresh oxygen, not the musty air she had here.

"I'm just gonna assume that you're bored," Toby replied.

Anne deadpanned. "Ya think?"

"How's about I get you some books to keep you occupied, seeing as how you've been a good little girl," Toby teased. Though Anne couldn't see his expression behind his mouth guard, she could only assume that what was lying behind it was a shit eating grin.

"And why would you want to entertain your little 'guest'?" Anne said putting air quotes on the word guest. "I thought for sure that you were gonna kill me. Or at least torture me."

"There's still a chance you might die, don't worry about that." Toby's neck twitched making a sickening 'pop', "But no, I won't torture you." Anne saw Toby wink behind his goggles, "Unless you're into that sorta thing."

"Yeah, no thanks. I'd rather read."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Anne plots her escape.

Luckily, Toby wasn't bluffing when he said that he would bring books. And boy did he bring 'em. Books varying from Stephen King to Stephanie Meyer, he had them all. Though Anne did wonder why he had some romance novels, she was glad that she would finally have something to do instead of stare at a wall all day while contemplating existence. She actually almost expected the wall to talk just because she was staring at it so intensely.

"Secrets of an Accidental Duchess?" Anne mumbled. "The hell kind of book is that?"  
          
The cover and title were enough to answer her question though. She put the book back down and avoided it completely. She wasn't really fan of romance. Especially where the main protagonist falls in love with someone when they just met, then a blossoming relationship ensues. That's just not how the real world worked.

"Seriously? Fifty Shades of Grey?" Anne asked with a disappointed sigh, shaking her head with her hand to her face.

"What? It's not mine, okay. I just borrowed it from...a friend," Toby replied, not explaining any more details.

Even though Anne was curious about who the book belonged to and who Toby's friend was, she didn't have the nerves to ask. His friend was either a girl who fantasizes about a dream world where her true love and her sail the world while making out in the process, or it was a guy who was a huge pervert. If it was the latter, she would definitely not want to meet him. If he's anything like Toby, he might take examples from the book, and that might not be as good an experience as described in the book.  
          
In the end, Anna had finally selected a thick book to keep her entertained, or at least not bored out of her mind, for at least two weeks. Anne silently thanked Stephen King for making the more than a thousand page book Under the Dome. She had seen the show quite a while ago, but it was still fresh inside her mind. She started wondering if the show was any accurate to the book seeing as how the book was written first.  
          
"So. . ." Toby hesitantly said exaggerating the length of the 'o'. "Do you like the books?"  
          
"Yeah," Anne replied completely engrossed in the book after just barely reading the first paragraph.  
          
"Good," he replied simply then stood up to leave.  
          
As he was walking, Anne heard the light jingling of metal against metal, a ringing of some sorts. It had kind of reminded her of a chime, its music flowing away with the wind for any passersby to hear. That's when she noticed two silver keys jangling against Toby's hips as he walked away. One of them was to no doubt unlock the chain that had been haunting Anne ever since he had put it on her. How long had she even been in here? She had lost count as the days became much quicker, but the nights much slower and chillier. It was probably January already. Why hadn't the police found her, or at least, where she was being held captive? Did they really think she ran away without leaving a single clue, not even a note, not even telling her closest friend? The thought of abandonment caused by her parents and friend made her heart ache, but she brushed those thoughts away. 

'No, they would never abandon me. I'm their oldest daughter, Marley would go ballistic. And Maddie...we were basically sisters, though she had went on vacation with her parents to Orlando. They should probably be back by now, and Mads should have noticed that I was gone, right? She would have at least attempted to call the police.'

With that thought in mind, Anne started planning. She started thinking about how she was going to escape this hellhole, or even if there WAS a way out. Now this is when survival skills and deductive skills would join forces to create something more powerful. She had to think of a way to escape that would most likely not backfire. Most of the ideas she had would either end up getting her killed which was not a scenario that she would like to encounter. She didn't have that many weapons in here except for the damage that papercuts can do and. . .

Anne's head perked up at the idea she had just thought of, the random idea just floating in her mind that was running with doubt and fear. Would her plan actually work? There was about a thirty percent chance that she would fail if she didn't properly execute the procedure, but that was better than nothing. The rest were either die, or die trying. And Anne sure as hell wasn't going to die.

Toby's POV  
        

Toby was walking home from a successful hunt with his hatchets in one hand gleaming with blood in the moonlight. He usually didn't wash them until he got to his home, safe in the confines of the log cabin in the middle of the woods but somewhat close to civilization. He didn't want his precious hatchets to rust now, does he? In his other hand, which would probably surprise any other cold blooded killer, was a bag of groceries filled with miscellaneous snacks and food items. The first meal she had was something that he stole from a guy that had just brought back a meal from Wendy's to his home and was about to enjoy himself when he noticed the other figure in the room. He barely had time to yell before a hatchet was lodged in his throat. Luckily, no one else had lived with the slightly fat man, otherwise, things would have gotten a bit messier. Toby was happy to see that no blood stains had gotten on the food contents. He wanted Anne's first meal in days to be a glorious one, and this was as good as it was going to get. Why he did that and didn't just steal some cereal or something other, he didn't know.  
          
It was quite a peculiar feeling, yes it was, for he had never felt it before. Was he getting sick? No, that couldn't be right. It was physically impossible for him to catch a cold. Maybe he just had a stomach ache every time he was around her? No, that couldn't be right either. For one, she isn't horrendously ugly. She was actually very fair skinned with light brown messy locks framed around her face, though it looked like she hadn't brushed it in ages, which was true. Complimenting her hair, however, were breath catching green eyes. Every time he looked into those eyes, he saw a whirlpool of emotions in them, anger, sadness, boredom, fear, especially the fear, though the last time he had talked to her, most of her fear had fled her as if Toby would never dare harm a hair on her head. Toby smirked at how wrong she was, but his smirk dropped into a frown as his sight reached the somewhat large log cabin. Would he hurt her though? For some reason, he never felt compelled to torture her, hurt her in any way, or even shout at her. He just couldn't bring himself to do it. It was if he reminded you of someone, someone he once knew and was very close to him, but forgotten like a whisper in the wind. He just didn't know who.   
          
Toby's left arm with the hatchets spasmed harshly making him almost cut his thigh. He growled in annoyance. If only he didn't have that stupid disease, things would get done more easily. At least it knocked him out of his deep thoughts and made him focus on what he was going to do next. First of all, he was going to check up on Anne. Not because he was worried or anything, more because he just didn't want her to spontaneously combust or anything.  
          
He placed his hatchets on the kitchen counter, not caring if any bloodstains got on it considering it was already riddled with the dried crimson. He casually walked towards where Anne was, which was in the basement though there was a small window that showed above ground so it wasn't a very deep basement. As he walked though, he froze as he heard something coming from Anne's chamber. It sounded like she was trying to stifle something, a sob mayhaps?  
          
Toby skipped a few stairs, unlocked the bottom door and found Anne crying on the corner of her mattress. Toby's heart, for some unknown reason, clenched at this. Was he actually concerned for her well being? No, it was probably because he wanted kidnapping to be an exciting experience, but crying isn't really exciting.

Toby cautiously approached Anne, unsure of what to do. He contemplated whether he should just awkwardly hug her like how the guy did it in all of those romance books, (He may or may not have read one of them and actually read it to the end.) or he should just wait for her to stop crying. Seeing as how the latter was just a dick move, he shuffled closer to her, about to embrace her, when a blunt object hit him in the back of the head. He almost lost balance, then regained it, but before he realized what was happening, he was knocked off his feet by the very chain that kept Anne trapped down here, then he felt his airways closing in on themselves. It was at this moment to realize that Anne was choking him. He was shocked at first, then angered immensely. Why the FUCK would she do this to him if all he had ever been was kind? She should have at least appreciate being alive. He wasn't even planning to keep her around for so long. It just. . . happened.  
          
The grip of the chain on his neck reminded him of the current situation, and he began struggling, but the grip was way to strong. For someone who hadn't walked around or exercised in a while, Anne really had some strength. Gray dots had started to cloud his vision, he couldn't breath. Before he could attempt to kick the girl who was now on top of him off, he fell unconscious.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Anne leaves.

Anne's POV

To Anne's surprise, it worked. Her plan to finally escape the somewhat psycho that had kept her captive had worked. She had to admit, she was slightly scared when Toby had gone still, so she quickly unwrapped the chain from his neck, grimacing at the sight of red marks, some slightly bleeding, but glad to find that he still had a pulse. She didn't want the weight of murder pressing against her shoulders any time soon, even if the person that was killed kidnapped her.

She grabbed the silver keys that were on the ground a ways away because of the little scuffle and tried the first one to unlock the chain at her ankle. It was too big to fit inside. So she tried the other one that seemed to have somewhat of an intricate design in it. It fit into the slot and clicked open with ease. Anne sighed happily at the prospect of freely moving her ankle around. There were red marks from where the chain had scraped at her ankle many times before, but she wouldn't worry about that until she was out of this hell hole.

Anne quickly stood up and brushed off any dust that may have gotten on her during the struggle and wiped away the fake tears from her eyes. She had resorted to inflicting pain on herself by biting her tongue hard enough to make it bleed slightly to make her cry seeing as how she couldn't summon tears on there own with no incentive. She made her way upstairs at a fast pace, afraid of what would happen if Toby woke up. Obviously enough, she wouldn't have the strength nor was she experienced enough to take him out with hand to hand combat. The only reason Anne was able to beat Toby was because she had the element of surprise. If she were to get caught again, she would surely die, so she had to make a quick escape and get as far away from Toby as possible.

When Anne finally reached the top, she noticed that she was in a log cabin of some sort which slightly surprised her. For some reason, she was just expecting something worse than what was in the cabin. Nothing really stood out to her. There was a tan couch, a television, a lamp on a small wooden table, and some paintings here and there.

Anne scanned the living room in hopes to find an exit, instead finding a door that lead to another room. She opened it and made her way inside the kitchen. When she did, she caught the sight of something lying on the kitchen table. 

First of all, there was a bag of miscellaneous food and snacks in a plastic bag. Anne wondered if it had been for Toby himself to enjoy, or if it had actually been for her.

Secondly, there were hatchets lying next to the bag. The blades were practically covered with a red, almost black, crimson. Judging by the metallic smell of it, it had to be blood. It couldn't exactly be anything else unless Toby just likes to make fake blood that looked and smelled real to prank people.

Anne ignored the hatchets for now, focusing on her escape. She couldn't waste any time wondering whether it had just been animal blood like a deer, or if it were a human's. She so hoped it was the former. 

Anne finally spotted the exit of the cabin and rushed to the door while all but flinging it off its hinges, embracing the cold winter air greedily even though she was freezing, happy to be out of the musty 'cell'. The snow blanketing the ground tickled and chilled Anne's feet who know realized that she wasn't wearing any shoes. She must have forgotten them when she went out to go check on the noise a few days, maybe even weeks, back.

Anne took off in a random direction not hesitating slightly and going under the cover of bare trees. Her breath crystallized in front of her in quick bursts as she ran, signaling that she was getting tired already. After not walking, running, or moving in general, small runs really took a lot out of you. Her feet and face were also starting to feel numb as well as her arms and hands, but she kept running. She had no idea where she was going, but she continued nonetheless. 

Soon after a few minutes of nonstop running, Anne's adrenaline from escaping ran out making her stop to catch her breath. Every intake of air was slightly painful for her, the cold oxygen just making her already sore throat feel like it was burning. She wrapped her arms around herself and rubbed the sides of her arms, trying to create enough friction to make heat, but it didn't seem to do any good. It just made her feel colder than she already was.

Anne had seen plenty of movies and TV shows where people that were lost in the woods and found their way out by using the stars to guide them, but she didn't exactly know how to read them. She was never one for astrology after all. She was more into Literature than knowing what and how many constellations there were.

After she had rested for a bit and caught her breath, Anne kept trudging forward through the snow. She could hardly feel her feet and legs now. She swore that she had frostbite now and that all of her toes were going to fall off. All she wanted to do was snuggle into a warm blanket with a cup of hot cocoa, sitting next to a fireplace and continuing to read Under the Dome, but that wouldn't happen until she found her way home.

Finally, after a long walk, Anne finally spotted a road. A small road, not a highway or anything, but a road nonetheless. She was completely ecstatic at this sight, her spirits soaring. She wasn't going to freeze to death in the forest after all! All she had to do was follow this road until she happened across a town or city, or if any cars came by, she could just hitchhike.

Anne walked next to the road making sure to be vigilant of all her surroundings, watching the lining of the trees and also looking behind her at some moments. She didn't exactly want to be kidnapped again. 

The more Anne walked, the more Anne's hopes dropped. Everything looked similar to her, and no cars were passing whatsoever. The sun was even starting to come up, happily sending warmth into Anne's cold, frigid body. Anne had started coughing a little less than halfway through the journey making her start to worry that she got a cold or something other. Her legs were feeling weak, and she wanted to stop walking, but she didn't. She couldn't. She had to continue. She had to see her family again.

Then, just as all hope was lost, Anne spotted something shiny in the distance that was coming closer. It was an automobile, a truck to be exact, and a new one at that. It was a blue color that seemed to shimmer in the sunlight, making it almost seem like a sign from heaven.

Anne let out a relieved laugh and waved at the vehicle, signaling it to pull over and stop. She couldn't help but put on a smile and internally cry as whoever was in the truck pulled over.

"Do you need help, miss?" said the man in the passenger's seat of the truck. There appeared to be two men in the truck, a dirty blonde haired man with blue eyes with a slight accent, probably from Europe, the one who just spoke, and a man with brown hair and, again, blue eyes who was in the driver's seat.

"Uh, yes please," Anne spoke urgently. "Can you drive me to Revenue Point 272?" 

A few words were exchanged in between the two men then the one with the accent turned back to Anne. "We'll drive you there. Just hop in the back."

"Thank you so much, sir," Anne said, gratefully getting into the back seat. She instantly felt incredibly warm as she say down on the rather seats, a shiver of heat going down her spine. "You have no idea how much this means to me."

"Hey, it's no problem. You looked like you were gonna freeze to death," the accented man said kindly. "And don't call me 'sir'. That makes me feel old. Just call me Felix. And the guy driving is Ryan."

"'Sup," said the man in the driver's seat. He had a surprisingly low voice for someone that looked as young as him. 

"Nothin' but the roof of the truck," Anne replied jokingly. She knew it was a terrible joke, but she went with it anyway.

"Ha, I like you. You remind me of my buddy, Russ," Ryan said chuckling slightly. Anne couldn't help but wonder if she knew him or not. He sounded familiar, but she's never seen him before in her life. Felix had also sounded familiar, but it was a complete blur in her mind. It was as if someone had intentionally blocked off all memories of these two from her mind. ( ;3 )  
          
"Anyways, miss. . . ," Felix started, unsure of what the lady's name was.  
          
"Anne. My name's Anne," Anne replied, mentally facepalming for not saying her name earlier.  
          
"Why were you practically in the middle of nowhere anyways, Anne?" Felix asked with sudden concern. "You seem a little too young to be a hitchhiking homeless person."  
          
"I was kidnapped," Anne stated simply.  
          
"No way," Ryan said, finally speaking up. "You're that girl, aren't you? The one who went missing a month ago?"  
          
So Anne's been gone for a month. Her answer of how long she was kept in that cold prison was finally given to her. In all honesty, it felt way longer than a month. More like three months, give or take a few days.

"Yeah," Anne answered. "I guess I am."

"Then we need to take you to the police station, pronto," Ryan spoke with urgency. "They need to know 'bout this."

Ryan then began to drive quickly, but not over the speed limit, to the nearest police station that was approximately eight miles from where they were.

Meanwhile in the log cabin that Anne had escaped from, Toby had just begun to wake up, feeling slightly groggy. He groaned and rubbed the back of his head. What the hell happened?

Flashes of Anne crossed his mind making him grow angry. That bitch knocked him out with the very chain locked on her ankle by choking him half to death! And just when he thought about giving her just a little more freedom by letting her walk around outside, with the chain, of course. Toby didn't expect her to rebel at all. Though that made things slightly more interesting, it infuriated him no less.

He had to get her back if it was the last thing he'd do.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Anne gets accused.

Finally, after driving for ten or so minutes, though it felt longer, the trio had arrived at the police station that was in a small town. There weren't many people inside, but the ones that were there were bustling from place to place trying to get things done.

"Uh, excuse me?" Anne said trying to catch the attention of someone, anyone that could help out her situation since no one was at the attendance desk.

"Yes, yes, I'll be right there," a woman's voice replied from across the room. The said woman made her way towards the trio, her heels audibly clicking against the marble floor despite all the noise around, though it was slightly muffled. She was holding a stack of papers that were paper clipped together in an orderly fashion. "Do you need anything?" she, Alexis as it read on her name tag, asked.

Her light brown eyes scanned the group, pausing once she saw the girl standing with the two men. Her eyes widened in shock as she called over two officers that were just standing to the side. One of the officers grabbed Anne's arm, not forcefully might I add, and started pulling her away to a specific room while the other officer ushered Ryan and Felix into a separate room.

"W-Wait, where are you taking us?" Anne asked with a slightly fearful tone. She thought that she was going to go to a juvenile detention center just because she 'ran away' and would never explain how she was kidnapped. But that was probably just her anxiety taking control over her mentally exhausted mind.

"Don't worry," reassured Alexis. "We're just going to ask you about your whereabouts."

That statement calmed Anne's anxiety slightly enough to a point where she willingly started moving her feet in the direction of where the questioning, or more popularly known as the interrogation room was. She hadn't even notice that she had been tense when entering the police station. Maybe she was just afraid that Toby would somehow find her and kidnap her all over again. If not, then he could possibly kill her. When he wakes up from the cold cement floor of the basement of the cabin and realizes that Anne had run away, she was going to have hell to pay. At least with the cops at her side, she would stand a chance against Toby, and maybe, just maybe, would be able to put him behind bars where he belongs. 

The officer led Anne to a sold white door that pretty much matched the style of the entire department which was just gray and had some white to it. The interior of the room wasn't much different from the whole of the police department being of a soft gray color. 

The officer brought Anne to a chair that she sat on. She couldn't help but feel like she was the suspect to some sort of murder that occurred. That's usually why people sat on her side of the interrogation table. Alexis sat on the other side of the table, putting her stack of paper to the side. The officer who had escorted Anne there was now in the corner of the room silently watching everything that was going on. 

"So, Anne Jennings, " Alexis began using Anne's full name. "You've been missing for an entire month. Where have you been for the past month?"

Now, to Anne, this felt more like a murder investigation than ever. All she had to do was give Alexis the truth and then she'd be home free. She wondered how her parents, Marley, and Maddie were fairing in all of this confusing, crazy mess. She hoped that they were alright.

"I was kidnapped from my home," Anne said truthfully.

"Who kidnapped you?" Alexis asked, pulling out a little notepad from her back pocket along with a pencil. 

"All I know is that his name is Toby, nothing else," Anne replied, trying to rack her brain for more information than that. 

"How were you kidnapped?" The questioning continued.

"I woke up in the middle of the night and heard this weird tapping at my window. I thought it was just a branch from a nearby tree or something, but it wouldn't stop," Anne informed Alexis who was writing away. "So I decided to go outside and check to see if I could stop it. When I checked the window on the outside, nothing was there. But then someone put something over my nose and mouth, chloroform I think, making me pass out."

"What did he look like?" Alexis asked Anne.

"Well," Anne pondered for a moment, wondering where to start, "It was kind of difficult to see his face. He was wearing some sort of mouth guard mask thing that looked like teeth and orange steampunk goggles. I couldn't tell what his eye color was, bit he had brown hair, kinda curly, but mostly straight."

Alexis's eyes widened slightly at the description Anne had given her. She's heard of him before, but she didn't want what she was thinking of to be true. Did he really exist?

"Did he seem to have any mental disorders of some kind?" Alexis asked Anne, intrigued as to what she had to say.

"Yeah! I'm pretty sure he had Tourette's and can't feel pain. I found that out when I bit him while he was trying to give me water," Anne responded.

It was exactly who Alexis was thinking of. It was Ticci Toby. The freaking Creepypastas. In all of her life in her career as a homicide detective, she had never heard anything more absurd than what Anne was telling her. Creepypastas weren't real. They couldn't possibly be. There was no logic behind it whatsoever. Was this girl for real? She couldn't possibly be telling the truth. 

"Are you sure about who you saw?" Alexis asked trying to find confirmation in Anne's eyes.

Anne nodded while saying, "Yes."

After a few moments of silence, Alexis spoke up breaking the tension that hung in the air, "I'm sorry, but I can't believe you."

"W-What?" Anne stuttered. How could anyone not believe she was kidnapped?

"The person you described just now was Ticci Toby. A made up person from a made up story by the creator Kastoway. He's not real," Alexis said with a stern voice. "Now tell me the truth."

Anne couldn't believe what she had just heard. The police didn't believe that she was kidnapped? Then how could she explain that she was missing for a month? That she just happened along a log cabin and just for fun pretended to kidnap herself? No, she was going to try and convince Alexis no matter what it took.

"But I am!" Anne exclaimed urgently. "You have to believe me!"

"I can't believe what isn't real. Now tell me," Alexis commanded loudly. "Where were you the night of William and Robin Jennings' murders!?"

That statement alone was enough to make Anne's heart stop beating altogether. Those were her parents' names. Did she hear her correctly? Was she hearing things? We're her parents...dead? Murdered no less?

Tears sprung up in Anne's eyes as she kept a steady voice and said, "Like I said, I was kidnapped a month ago by this 'Ticci Toby' on December 3rd at around midnight."

"And around that time on the exact same day, your parents ended up murdered," Alexis's whole demeanor changed in an instance. She was the cold detective that always tried her best to solve cases no matter what, even if it came to scare tactics to make the suspect confess. "Now tell me. Did you kill them?"

"No, I swear I didn't!" Anne exclaimed, tears now freely running down the sides of her face. Alexis didn't even flinch, her stone set face still emotionless.

"The autopsy report says that your parents were killed by a large kitchen knife. That knife was hidden in YOUR room under YOUR bed and was still covered in blood. It also had your fingerprints all over it," Alexis stated, only glancing down at her papers every once in a while.

"No," Anne said, though it was more of a whisper. "I wouldn't do that. I would never kill my parents. Ever. I loved them. I loved them so much."

Right at that moment, the officer that was standing in the corner of the room just watching silently went to Anne's side and lightly grabbed her by the elbow, helping her out finger seat to take her to a holding cell until further notice.

"We'll continue this tomorrow," Alexis said simply.

Anne didn't struggle. How could she when she had all these thoughts whizzing around her head? She was sad, depressed even, crying very heavily now. The officer escorting her to the cell seemed somewhat annoyed at her display of unreserved emotion. He gladly took the elevator to the basement level and dropped her off at the cell, happy to finally be rid of her obnoxious crying, and left.

Anne was left a sniffling mess on her 'prison' bed, completely distraught at the news she had received. They were dead. They were dead and it was all her fault. They were dead because of the stupid mistake she made. They were dead because of the choice she made to go outside. They were dead because of her. Because of her mistake, she was an orphan. Because of her mistake, Marley was alone.

This sent a whole new wave of emotional pain to settle over Anne. She spent the rest of the evening sobbing with new found tears into the pillow of the stiff bed.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Toby is bored.

Previously Two Months Ago

The starting of the winter wind in late October whispered through the air sending the remaining autumn leaves that clung to the branches of oak trees spiraling to the ground which was already covered in brown leaves. The woods were silent except for the slight singing of birds that haven't flown somewhere warmer for the winter yet. The sun made up for the cold wind but not by much, bringing warmth to the surface below.

Taking a silent stroll through the forest was Toby who just had a successful hunt. The hatchets in his hands were stained crimson red, still fresh though some of the blood had dried due to the breeze. He had slight blood splatters on his hands and clothes, though that didn't bother him. It never did. He was used to it. Numb to it, you could say both figuratively and literally.

If someone took a look at his face, they'd say that Toby was thinking very deeply about something. But that was the problem. He couldn't think about anything at all. The amnesia he had gotten when Slenderman took him under his wing didn't help the situation. The only thing that he had known in his life was killing as if it were programmed into him.

As Toby practically focused on thinking about nothing, he failed to realize that it would be morning in a little less than an hour. With this century's updated technology on satellite picturing, it was riskier to walk in broad daylight. 

Toby's steps stopped as he realized that he was in the back of some small house. He probably made a wrong turn while he was 'in deep thought'.

'Oh well,' thought Toby, 'I don't think Slender would mind if I killed a few more.'

Toby happened to wander a little bit to the left of a window that was slightly ajar, most likely to let some air in. He used that to his advantage and pulled the window up more, trying not to make a single noise as to alert his presence to whoever was inside. The one rule for being a Creepypasta was to be stealthy, making sure you don't get caught and compromise the whole existence of the monstrous serial killers.

As Toby ducked his head into the window with one leg already in and on the floor, he couldn't help but notice a slight tossing coming from across the room. It seemed that this was someone's bedroom, but he couldn't tell the gender or the age of the person. Judging by the condition and decor of the room, he assumed that it belonged to a teenage girl. And that was only because of the new issue of magazine "Glamour" that was opened to a makeup page on the wooden floor.

The room was somewhat bare with only an occupied bed, a desk with a few scattered books on top of it here and there, and a bedside desk with a lamp on it. For a teenage girl, she didn't seem like the type to gossip about guys or hanging out with a bitchy clique. She seemed to be more into studies, assuming that that was the reason that there was an open Trigonometry book on the desk.

All in all, it didn't matter to Toby who this girl was. Even if she happened to be some important man's daughter, he needed to slake his thirst for human blood. He needed the satisfaction of a bloodcurdling scream ringing in his ears. He wanted to see the fear in someone's eyes as he takes their life. Although he already had his fair share of hunting, Toby was internally frustrated. He wasn't satisfied enough by that man's scream or that woman's howl in pain before it was muffled by the sound of her choking on her own blood. No, he needed something more. He just didn't know what.

Toby crept quietly and sneakily to the bed, cautious of any noise he hears that may alert his victim to his presence. He didn't know if she was a light sleeper after all. No matter if she was a heavy sleeper, he'd still have to be quiet. For all he knew, there could be a dog with very sensitive ears in the house. As stated before, stealth was incredibly important to a Creepypasta.

Before he could plunge his hatchet in the girl's brain which would have resonated with a sickeningly sweet crack, an alarm sounded. More like an alarm clock with the radio turned on to a teen pop channel playing a catchy tune that Toby didn't know.

Instantaneously, Toby dropped to the ground, careful not to make any thuds, and rolled under the bed in less than five seconds. He's had to do this before, but not recently. Luckily enough for him, there was enough room for him to fit completely under, though not comfortably. His head was facing towards the only exit he had when the radio stopped playing and the girl on the bed groaned. The bed creaked slightly as whoever was on it hopped off. 

Though Toby couldn't exactly see what the girl was doing, he couldn't mistake the sound of clothes hangers colliding each other why meant that the girl was probably getting ready for school. The girl hummed to herself then stopped. Shuffling was heard then the closing of a window. The sound of clothes hangers impacting with each other continued. Toby didn't know how long he was going to be stuck under the bed until the door was audibly opened then slammed shut with the girl shouting, though slightly muffled due to the closed door, to someone else in the house, "Mom, have you seen my hoodie?"

An incoherent voice answered, then the girl's footsteps grew away from the door signifying that Toby now had enough time to leave without a trace. Hurriedly, Toby crept out from under the bed and to the window. He opened it enough so that he'd have enough room to slide out. After his feet finally planted on the dry dirt which was covered in brown leaves, he proceeded to close the window just in time. When the girl came back through the door, Toby was already gone.

It was still fairly dark put due to the innumerable amount of gray clouds in the sky, but Toby kept to the bases of trees anyways. Their branches would block out any images of him if a satellite happened to be posted exactly where he was at the moment. You could never be too careful.

Once he had reached Slender's Forest where all the trees looked to be pitch black and were completely bare, Toby stopped being cautious. After all, he was now on Slenderman's territory, a place that is invisible to any satellite and could only be found if you happened to wander here without purposefully looking for it. Even so, you'd be dead before you could tell the tale of Slender's woods.

As Tony walked deeper and deeper into the woods, he internally cursed at how idiotic he had been. He had almost been caught and compromised the whole existence of Creepypastas. He should have paid attention to how early in the morning it had been. He was gonna have to take an earful of Slenderman because of this. 

And boy were his ears ringing at the end of Slender's tirade on how he almost fucked up.

Approximately a week after the incident, Toby was wandering the same woods the house was in. He was retracing his steps, wanting to find that girl again and actually kill her this time. Was it just for the hell of it? Probably. Or was it just to take out his frustration on her? Most likely all of the above.

Toby was under the cover of early night and a low fog that made it difficult to see four yards in front of him, though he easily made out the shape of a house a few meters in front of him. He came upon the same window that he had crept in just a week before and peeked inside.

He saw the figure of the same girl hunched over the desk writing rapidly. Now that there was actually light inside the room, Toby could see her face. What also helped was that the desk was angled ninety degrees from the window. The girl's eyebrows were scrunched up as she tried to understand the problem she was figuring out, then loosed as she figured out the answer. She kept brushing her long, brown hair out of the way as she worked, but then resorted to pulling it up in a ponytail with a scrunchie that happened to be on the desk.

For reasons obvious enough, Toby couldn't kill her yet. Before he could, she would scream and alert the whole house of his presence. He could only wait patiently for the time when she would fall asleep to come. Though for reasons unknown to him, he wanted to keep watching. He was watching her every move from the expressions on her face to the movements of her body. Maybe it was because most of the people he worked with didn't have faces, wore masks, or whose face was stuck with just one expression, or maybe it was something else. Toby didn't know.

What Toby did know was that he wouldn't mind just watching her all night doing whatever she did. After about an hour more of watching her do homework, the girl finally stretched in her chair and got up. Toby ducked to make sure he wasn't seen.

The girl was still wearing jeans and a washed up T-shirt which meant that she still had yet to change. The girl went through one of the drawers in her closet dresser and pulled out a pair of shorts, most likely deeming that the T-shirt she was currently wearing was comfortable enough to sleep in. Toby couldn't help but watch her change, as perverted as that sounded. If Ben were there with him, he'd probably give Toby a high five. That thirteen year old boy was an extreme pervert when it came to women.

As the girl turned off the light and tucked herself into bed, Toby started to leave, but then stopped when the light turned back on. He peeked slightly back in and noticed a little girl at the bedroom door. He had to angle himself as so he wouldn't be seen.

The small child had tears glistening in her eyes as she ran towards the bed in a fit. The teenager, who was already sitting up due to the sudden noise and light, embraced the small kid as she came barreling into the teen's arms. It was most likely that the two were sisters seeing as how close they seemed. It, for some reason, made Toby wonder whether he ever had a sister, be it younger or older. In the end, he just brushed it off, wanting to see the teen smile and wipe away the little girl's tears. 

After a few more heartfelt moments, the teenager went to turn off the lights then went back to the bed. Her little sister stayed on the bed, most likely wanting company while she slept. The display of love and compassion would tug at the hearts of many people, but Toby wasn't one of them. He's never known that kind of love, so he didn't know what it would feel like which means that he didn't really feel anything watching the two. He was like an empty husk of apathy, though he could, rarely, have his moments of unbridled rage and mood swings of happiness and joy.

When the two were finally all snuggled up into the warmth of the teen's bed, Toby finally left due east towards the direction of a small town where he had made his last two kills. Soon enough, he'd have to switch towns, but he was safe for now. The night was still young and there were things he needed to take care of, a hunger yet to satisfy. A hunger for blood.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Anne goes mad.

Rolling around on her bed, Anne was trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in. No matter what she did, she was uncomfortable sleeping on the hard prison mattress. It felt as if hundreds of needles were pricking her back, poking holes through her entire being. Although it was an exaggeration, it was enough for Anne not to get a wink of sleep.

In the end, Anne decided to just sit up, rubbing her sore back. She's never had back pains before, even when she slept on the floor of the basement that Toby had kept her in. It was strange that the pains had only started now than when she was lying on cold concrete. Maybe it was just how she was sleeping on it?

Anne laid back down and rolled onto her stomach, testing the new position. Immediately, she started feeling nauseous and quickly sat back up, gripping her stomach with both arms. Bile started rising in the back of her throat, but she swallowed it back down, a shiver going up her spine as she did so. Why did that happen? Anne stood up and walked over to the door of her prison cell, wanting to call somebody, anybody, down so he or she could get her a glass of water. When nobody came, Anne grunted with frustration and turned to try to go back to sleep. 

What she saw, however, revolted and terrified Anne.

On Anne's bed were hundred of spiders, the eight legged creatures covering the entirety of the bed. The way they crawled and squirmed made bile rise up in Anne's throat once again. Instead of holding back as before, Anne collapsed onto her knees and heaved her lunch. Her stomach was empty and her throat burned like acid when the seemingly endless stream of vomit stopped.

When Anne rubbed away any spittle left on her mouth, she noticed that it was a crimson color that she had retched. Looking back at the puddle had confirmed her suspicions of the red being blood as disgusting as it may sound. In the middle of the puddle was some sort of worm or leech, desperately trying to survive in the new environment before it ceased its movements. 

Surprised to see what had come out of her, Anne scooted back rapidly on her hands and knees, desperately wanting to get away from the disgusting things haunting her. She grabbed onto the bars of her prison and yelled, shouted, screamed for someone to save her from whatever was happening, but nobody came.

Suddenly, the bars started dissolving in her hands, melting into her skin, causing boils made by the extreme heat to erupt on her hands. Anne screamed in pain, trying to let go of the bars, but it seemed that he hands were now fused with the bars. Making one last attempt, Anne pulled both her hands off of the bars, causing muscles and skin to rip off her hands leaving nothing but burned flesh, sinew, and bone. Hot tears streamed down Anne's face, loud cries being heard from the mouth of the tortured girl. 

The spiders which have been secluded on the bed have started rapidly crossing towards Anne, their grotesque little bodies going over each other in a rush towards new prey. By instinct, Anne backed up into the bars only to be faced with immense pain on her back. The bars were now melting into the skin of her back, causing her chronic back pain to intensify ten fold. She held back a shriek as the spiders crept onto her legs and arms, biting her in every which place. She tried to flick them off, but they were in mads and attaching their mandibles to the skin left on her hand. Some of the spiders even crawled underneath her marred and burned flesh in her hands, causing immense pain and discomfort to Anne. She clenched her jaw and eyes shut as the spiders crawled over her face, inflaming every inch of skin they bit. The spiders started traveling inside Anne's nostrils, but she tried to snort them out. When she ran out of breath, the spiders had already successfully entered her lungs causing excruciating pain and difficulty breathing. Her airways were on fire, and she could feel every one of the spiders tiny legs inside of her. The bites were some of the most painful things she's ever experienced, even worse than the melting flesh on her back. Anne could slowly feel herself going into shock and paralysis. She couldn't move her body when she willed it to and she couldn't breathe either. The spiders have already cut of her vision when they had crawled up her nasal passages. They had bitten the optic nerves in her eyes, rendering Anne blind. Her vocal chords were damaged by the spider bites as well, the thin skin completely torn and discolored into a dark shade of purple. All Anne could do now was endure the pain until she finally died. She wanted to die. She wanted to die and end her suffering. She wanted to be dead. She wanted death. Why isn't she dead yet? Why isn't she dead? Why wasn't she dying? Why?!

The pain was almost unbearable. It was as if her senses were increased by a multiple of ten, the feeling of every, single, tiny bite painful to the teenage girl. She would be bitten to the point where no one would be able to recognize her body. Each individual puncture wound cause by the spiders flowed with blood, seemingly unending. Why did she have to be conscious for the pain as well? Why couldn't she be unconscious? Why couldn't she just die already? She wasn't even breathing. How the hell was she alive?!

Anne's mind, now infested by spiders, was somehow still functioning properly even after she was practically getting eaten alive. Her head was pounding and spinning, her body flaming all over. When would this pain end? Was this the end? Was she in Hell? What did she do to deserve endless torture of the rest of eternity? Just as Anne was about to give up on everything, she opened her eyes and gasped as she sat up. 

Light was streaming from a window in the small white room that she was in, creating the slightest bits of warmth in the room. The beeping of a heart monitor was heard right beside where Anne was laid, the sound spiking when Anne finally awoke. Her breathing was irregular and rapid as she clutched to where her heart was. Her heart beat increased to a high speed which would be deemed unhealthy by medical professionals. Anne's eyes were wide as she clutched her head and screamed. She couldn't under the spiders crawling all over her body, biting, tearing into her flesh. She still felt the pain over her entire body, mind, lungs, and eyes. Her back hurt the worst. It felt as if she had been branded with a hot iron over and over and over again, only on a higher intensity. She tore at her hair, definitely wanting the pain to go away, but it just wouldn't. 

Alarmed at the scream, doctors had started surrounding Anne, restraining her in her bed. Anne screeched and fought back, not wanting anyone to touch her, especially the spiders. The spiders were back, their tiny bodies somehow pinning her to the bed. One of the spiders the bit a spit on her arm, making Anne feel drowsy. Was Anne finally going to die? She hoped so. She didn't want any more pain. She wanted relief. She wanted to feel nothing. No more pain.

Anne's movements stopped. Her pulse had slowed back down to normal and her erratic breathing had calmed down. The doctors restraining her calmly moved back and started discussing what they should do with her, if she had any medical history of reacting badly to morphine. Hers was a complex case to crack. The doctors would have no idea what she would do when she woke up again. Would she scream and panic like the first time, or would she be calm and collected? What caused her to lash out in the first place? Doctors couldn't explain it, but only hoped for the best for this young teenage girl.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Anne experiences inception.

The light was blinding when Anne opened her eyes. Her head was pounding, and the whole room seemed to be spinning. She blinked to clear the blurriness in her vision to see that she was in some sort of hospital rook hooked up to an IV. Just as she was about to sit up, a doctor entered the room, surprised to see her awake.

"Ms. Jennings, you're awake. Your parents have been waiting for you to wake up," said the doctor while smiling.

Anne's eyes widened.

Parents? They're alive? 

How was that even possible? They're dead. She knows they're dead. The police had even accused her of killing them when she had explained that she had been kidnapped by some sort of fictional character. All those days locked up in someone's basement, the entirety of escaping from her prison, meeting Felix and Ryan, getting questioned by the police, had it all just been a bad dream? A terrible nightmare?

Anne's questions had been answered almost all at once once her parents, both of who were holding Anne's little sister's hand walked through the door. It felt like she hadn't seen them in years. Tears started falling from her eyes as her parents and Marley, her sister, hurried towards her and hugged her. Anne really missed their embraces, embarrassing as it is to admit. Anne's smile was wide with joy and happiness, her laughs sounding like little hiccups with the crying.

"We were so worried about you, Annie," Anne's mom said, obviously crying from the way her voice cracked, "We thought you were never going to wake up again."

The four let go of each others embraces, tears going down all of their faces except for Anne's dad who would always try to be rough for his family, though on the inside, he was crying with joy.

"How long have I been asleep?" Anne asked her parents, though Marley spoke for them.

"A really long time! You even missed my ninth birthday, you meanie!" Marley whined, "Please don't sleep anymore!"

Anne chuckled softly while patting Marley on the head, "Don't worry, I won't. I promise."

"Good," Marley smiled, then mumbled something unintelligible under her breath.

"What was that?" Anne asked Marley, wanting to know what she said.

"Nothing! I'm just glad you're okay, sis."

"Oh, Mar," Anne sighed, upset over the fact that she made Marley worry. 

Anne reached out and pulled Marley into a hug, wanting to keep her little sister safe from harm's way in her arms. She didn't want Marley to be upset of not having her older sister there for her when she needs her. Anne wanted to be there for Marley. She wanted to be the best oldest sister out there.

"Sissy," Marley said, her voice slightly cracking now. Her voice sounded so sad, so broken, "Why'd you have to abandon us?"

"I didn't abandon you. I'm right here now," Anne said while softly petting Marley's hair, trying to calm her sniffles.

"Then why are mommy and daddy dead?" Marley said, her voice now completely monotone. It didn't sound like Marley at all.

Anne quickly withdrew from the hug. Instead of her sister in her arms in one piece, Marley was completely covered in blood, cuts all over her body and face with purple bruises adorning her once adorable face. The worst thing about her was her lack of eyes. Blood and strings of flesh occupied the space of what once held eyes. The look of Marley was sickening, making Anne's heart break and her stomach hurt. She was trying hard to hold back from throwing up.

"Why'd you kill me, sissy?"

"You killed me."

"Why, sissy?"

"Why?"

The questions sounded like they were being asked from everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Marley's voice seemed to be coming from all around Anne, even echoing in the back of her mind. It just seemed to be getting louder and louder, more intense every time Marley spoke.

By this time, the hospital room had completely disappeared and so had Marley's physical body, but her voice kept shouting from the darkness surrounding Anne, drowning her in fear, horror, regret, sadness, and many other emotions swirling around her.

"Why!?"

"Why'd you kill us all!?"

Three other voices had joined in with Marley, voices Anne recognized as her parents and Maddie, her best friend. They all screamed at her, yelled at her at how they were dead because of her. That she killed them.

"Why, sissy!?"

"I thought we were friends!"

"You killed us, Annie. How could you?"

"Why?"

Shut up.

"Why!?"

Shut up!

"WHY!?"

SHUT UP!

Anne gripped her head in pain, wanting to get the voices of her dead parents, sister, and best friend out of her head. She didn't want them to be dead, she didn't. She just couldn't handle the regret, the pain of leaving her parents behind. For leaving her defenseless sister behind. For leaving her best friend alone.

Anne gasped as she sat up in a flash, her head banging against something hard. Whatever was on the receiving end made a sound of pain.

Opening her eyes fully, Anne saw Toby right in front of her, kneeling beside her mattress, rubbing the spot on his head where she had accidently hit him even though he couldn't actually feel the pain. He just grew accustomed to saying "ouch" or some kind of noise to signify that he's been hit by something.

"I'm...back?" Annie whispered in disbelief.

She was back in the basement Toby had put her in, a chain around her leg confining her to the small room. The bed was as uncomfortable as always, but more comfortable than the bed back at the police station. Way more comfortable and less spider infested. She didn't even want to think about that nightmare anymore than she needed to. Because of it, Anne was pretty sure that she had a serious case of Arachnophobia.

"Back?" Toby asked confused, "You've been here the whole time. Where'd you have gone?"

Instead of answering, Anne hugged Toby, completely taking him by surprise. Why would she do that to someone who kidnapped her? Did she have some sort of intense nightmare?

Having her at such a close proximity made Toby's hand twitch nervously. He's never had this much human interaction that didn't involve murder or torture in his entire lifetime. He didn't really know what to do, but since he's stalked people before, he kind of knew what to do? Slightly. He just had to wrap his arms around the other person, right?

Toby did just that, his hands resting on the small of Anne's back. It felt weirdly satisfying to be hugged, Toby thought. Maybe he should hug Anne more often.

As soon as Anne pulled away, Toby felt empty. It was as if he wanted Anne to hug him again. He mentally shook his head. He shouldn't be thinking like that. No mortal who had seen any of the Creepypastas would be allowed to live. It was practically a miracle that Slenderman had let Toby keep Anne as a sort of captive/pet for this long. Slenderman wouldn't like it if Toby actually started to grow feelings for the girl.

"I'm...sorry about that," Anne said, her mind completely repulsed as to what she just did. She shouldn't be hugging her captor. She needed escape. But, would that really work? It didn't really work out well in her nightmare since she was framed for her parents' murders. Were her parents actually dead? According to Toby, she never left which meant that what she had been told at the police station never happened. It was a possibility that he parents were alive. But the nightmare was just too real. She could feel everything in her nightmare just as she does in real life. It was so real that it chilled Anne's spine just to think about the extreme pain she experienced, "I just...had a nightmare."

"A nightmare, huh?" Toby repeated. So he was right. A nightmare was the reason why Anne had hugged him, "Was it that bad?"

Anne's lips formed a thin seal as she nodded, unshed tears finally coming to her eyes. The tears started rolling down her cheeks. She tried rubbing away the stream with her sleeve, but the tears kept coming. She resorted to covering both of her eyes with her hands and let out all of her tears.

Toby sighed, not knowing what to do, and decided to hug Anne. It seemed to be a way of comforting someone close to you or a way to feel comforted yourself considering what Anne had done moments before. Anne wrapped her arms around Toby immediately, crying into his chest. 

Anne's mind was raising red flags, screaming at her to not be comforted by her captor, but she completely ignored it. She needed a hug from someone, anyone, who would be there for her. The only person close to her was Toby, so she didn't really think. Even so, it felt rather nice to hug him. 

Maybe if he were just a normal non-murderer, though this was still up for debate since what she experienced was a dream, person would have liked to be friends with him.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Anne makes a new friend.

Anne laid on her back, her left arm dangling off the side of the bed. Light shined down into the room from the only window there was. The warmer months had arrived, and the cold was beginning to go away. She hadn't seen any snow outside the window for a while, which was good in Anne's opinion. At least it wasn't that cold anymore. Anne was blankly staring at the ceiling, wondering how everything that had happened to her was just a dream. It seemed a bit too realistic to be a dream, but. . .

Maybe being cooped up in a small room was slowly driving Anne to the brink of insanity. The mere thought of never seeing her family again already drove her near the edge. The thought of not being there for Marley, to watch her grow up into a fine young woman, hurt Anne's heart the most. She'll most likely never be able to see her sister, get her first boyfriend, or go to her first school dance. She'll never be able to give her advice on boys and how she should act around them. She'll never be able to go dress shopping with Marley in order to buy her a dress for prom. She'll never be able to see her sister with a smile on her face as she holds up her highschool diploma. She'll never be able to experience life with her. And Marley would have to experience life without an older sister.

Anne felt a tear go down her cheek as she thought about the inevitable. It was obvious that Toby wasn't going to release her any time soon. Although he was treating her with an unexpected kindness, if it could even be called that, Anne yearned to be home with her parents and little sister. If only she could just say goodbye to her parents and Marley, just once. 

With those sad thoughts in mind, Anne wanted to think of something else. It wouldn't do any good if she just moped around being depressed and melancholy all the time. To get her mind off of everything, she settled with reading one of the books that Toby had given her. She was glad to see that the reading material was still there, signifying that that part of her memory wasn't a dream. If she didn't have anything to do, she would've died of boredom.

The book she had picked out to read was called Handle With Care. Anne read the short summary on the back and decided that it was good enough to read. After reading only a few paragraphs, she was already immersed in the story of Willow O'Keefe told from the perspective of her family. She already knew what it was like to live with someone who had a disability, but none like Willow's. Willow had a disease called Osteogenesis Imperfecta, more commonly known as the "brittle bone" disease. Even just the tiniest bump could result with a broken tibia.

Anne finished the book within six hours of starting, not taking her eyes off the page for a second. The book's ending had her in shambles by the teenage read the last sentence. She couldn't ever imagining something like that happening to Marley, but she doesn't even know if she's even okay. Anne regrets ever reading the book now.

Anne placed the book on the concrete floor and laid back down on her still uncomfortable bed, just staring at the ceiling. She was no longer in the mood for reading as the book had left a sour taste in her mouth and worried thoughts clouded her mind. The feeling of not knowing was terrible, like an itch clawing at her mind relentlessly with no ailment to soothe the pain. She felt as if something were scratching at her insides, a very uncomfortable feeling indeed. It almost reminded her of the spiders she dreaded and feared. She no doubt had an extreme case of arachnophobia and cleithrophobia now. 

Anne's head suddenly snapped up as she heard a knocking noise just above her head. Someone was knocking on the front door of the cabin. It couldn't possibly have been Toby, for he never knocked since this place was practically owned by him. The droning sound of the knocking was ceaseless until it suddenly stopped. She then heard the door slam open, as if someone pushed it by force, breaking the lock. She jumped slightly at this. The footsteps that were overhead were somewhat slow and lumbering as if they had some sort of limp.

"Hello?" a voice, sounding like a man's, called out from the room above Anne's head. "Anybody here?"

Anne, not knowing what else to do, called out in response. "Yeah! Down in the basement!" Her voice sounded somewhat broken for some reason.

Anne heard a few more footsteps until they stopped at the entrance of her prison, then the door suddenly slammed open. The man walked, or limped seeing that he had a shallow but long gash in his leg, down the steps, his eyes widening when he saw that she was tied to the post of the bed like some sort of wild animal. He hobbled quickly over to her while muttering a few obscenities. "Are you alright?"

"I should be asking you that," Anne replied, gesturing towards his extremely injured leg. 

"How long have you been here?" He started to untie the ropes that kept Anna bounded to the bed. 

"I don't know. Probably a few months," Anne said nonchalantly. She sighed in relief as the rope around her wrists came loose. She grimaced as she realized that what she said could be true. Had she really been gone for that long? It was a possibility. Her parents were most likely frantic trying to look for her, probably calling every police station in the country even if it did sound mildly far-fetched. 

"Holy shit," the injured man responded, taken aback by the amount of time she had spent shackled in some remote cabin in the woods. "Who even did this to you?"

Anne was about to tell him Toby's name when she decided to bite her tongue. There was a possibility that he would t believe something as strange as Toby considering that he was apparently a "fictional character". At least, that's what her weird psychotic dream stated. She didn't know if that was even the truth or if anyone actually knew about him, but she didn't want to ruin her one chance of rescue if it meant seeing her family again. Or at least seeing and feeling the warm sun on her skin, the breeze flowing through her hair. 

It was a relief that someone had found her. Although her stay in the cabin hadn't been an uncomfortable one, as horrified as she was to admit it, she wanted to be as far away from this place as possible. And although Toby didn't seem to exhibit. . . murderous intents as far as Anne had seen (her dream wasn't exactly realistic enough to account for the stained hatchets on the table), something about him didn't make Anne feel safe. In fact, he made her feel uneasy though it was simple to ignore considering he acted almost like every other teenager that she had ever encountered and chatted with. 

On the other hand, the man in front of Anne right now was almost the exact opposite of Toby. He gave off a warm aura that seemed to make the atmosphere calmer than tense. His dirty blond, natural looking hair was just slightly messy, and he had piercing blue eyes, almost like an endless sky. His posture indicated that he was tired and worn, most likely in pain, but the way he held himself was confident. 

Realizing that he was still waiting  for an answer, Anne decided to answer simply. "Some crazy lunatic."

"We need to call 911," the man stated. "The only problem is that there's no signal here. We'll need to head out."

"Alright," Anne responded. Her hopes were practically soaring. She'd finally be able to see her family again. She wouldn't die without seeing them again. She'd actually watch her little sister grow up and go to college. Just the thought brought tears to her eyes, but she fought them back. It would be of no use if she cried now. "Lead the way."

The man started limping towards the stairs. Surprisingly, he didn't seem to be in any pain, though he could just be toughing it out. Although his injury wasn't all that severe, it still caused some room for concern. If it didn't get treated soon, it could possibly get infected and cause his problem to be doubled. As he walked, Anne following behind him, he said, "The name's Jay Hendrick, by the way."

Anne was slightly taken aback when he said his name so casually. Wasn't he the least bit cautious when it came to revealing personal information? Considering that his leg was still profusely bleeding, he didn't seem like a cautious person in general. Anne decided to answer him in return. "Mine's Anne. Anne Jennings."

"Cool," he said nonchalantly. Once they had gotten up the stairs, Jay needed help since he was practically hopping, he glanced around the room, skimming his eyes over everything as if trying to examine every detail. He then turned to Anne. "Do you happened to know if there's a first aid kit around here somewhere?

"No. I haven't actually been up here before," Anne replied, ashamed that she couldn't exactly help.

"Figured," Jay responded with a slight frown. He seemed to get an idea because then he said, "Let's fan out and see if we can find one. I won't be able to get far like this otherwise."

"Okay. I'll start searching over there," Anne said, tilting her head towards the right side of the cabin. Jay nodded his head in acknowledgement and started his own search.

Anne made her way over to the right half of the expansive cabin, the area being a hallway that breaks way into four doors. It was confusing as to why Toby would need such a large cabin, or how he even got it. What use would he have for something like this? 

Anne stopped that train of thought immediately as she opened the door to the first room. As much as she wanted answers, she'd much rather find a first aid kit and get back home as quickly as possible. She glanced over everything in the seemingly empty room, searching through cupboards and even a dresser while she was at it. She count find anything except for a few pairs of pants, boxers, and shirts. Seeing these clothes made her realize how long it's been since she's even had a bath or a clean change of clothes. Had she really been that ignorant of her hygiene that she didn't even ask if she could take a shower? Seeing this as an opportunity to get out of her grimy and sweaty clothes, she quickly changed out of her old clothes and into new ones, although the shirt was a few sizes to big for her. The pants fit just fine though since they were skinny jeans.

After making sure there was nothing else that was useful in the room, Anne left and went to door number two. This door creaked on it's hinges as she swung it open. She was surprised to find a bathroom, a well kempt one at that. Maybe she should take a shower while she was at it. But no, she didn't have the time. Who knew when Toby would return. Knowing his unstable condition, there was no telling what he'd do if she tried to escape. Anne glanced around the bathroom until her eyes landed on her own reflection in the mirror above the sink. She realized that what she was looking at was actually herself and not just some poorly made copy.

Anne's hair was a complete mess, strands sticking up everywhere and knots that seemed like they could never be taken out unless she wanted to rip out her hair. Her hair, in fact, was longer than she first realized. Instead of barely grazing her shoulders, it was slightly past her shoulders and growing at slightly uneven lengths. It was weird that she hadn't realized it. Her eyes which used to be so bright and happy now just looked dull and empty, not to mention slightly darker than usual. Her complexion was extremely pale unlike the lightly tanned skin she had before. She had been sun deprived for way too long. Her gaunt face seemed to reveal a lot about her considering her meals didn't usually come at regular intervals and also varies depending one what Toby had brought. She had gotten thinner, she noticed, something she actually wanted to achieve before this fiasco even happened, though it didn't come in the way she wanted. This wasn't a healthy thin, more like a "you're malnourished" kind of thin. All in all, she barely recognized herself.

Shaking her head, Anne began to search the cabinets of the sink, trying to find something, anything that resembled a first aid kit. Surprisingly, she found one at the very back of the cabinet underneath the sink. She hurried over to where she was pretty sure Jay was, about to give it to him and probably help him, but stopped when he saw him sitting on the ground, frozen with his eyes wide and mouth open with horror. 

The door in front of him swung open to reveal a recently alive corpse, the body's chest split open, organs and tendons all visible. The female's face was contorted into one of everlasting fear which sent shivers down Anne's spine as she let out a terrified scream and suddenly collapsed.


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A second attempt at escaping doesn't sound so bad, does it?

Anne soon came to her senses when Jay shook her awake. She gasped and immediately shot up, grasping her chest where her heart was as if she had woken up from a horrendous nightmare. She truly hoped that what she saw wasn't real, but the look on Jay's face said otherwise. His eyes were filled with shock, worry, but most of all, fear. 

"Hey, you okay?" he asked in a concerned tone, though his voice was slightly trembling.

"T-There was a dead body. Someone is dead and I-I-" Anne didn't know what else to say. She had never seen a dead body before. Not on the news, in real life, or anything. It was scarring to see a human body mangled and torn into as if by some rabid wolf. That would be a sight etched into the crevasses of her mind for years. 

"Hey, hey," Jay said, trying to calm Anne down and swallow his own fear at the same time. "It'll be alright. We've just gotta get the hell outta here." 

Anne couldn't agree more with that statement. She scrambled to her feet as Jay lightly tugged her along. She was still shaken over the horrifying image and was sure she was going to vomit. More ghastly images popped into her mind which made her nausea spike. Right as they stumbled out of the house, Anne veered off to the left and collapsed on her knees as she threw up. Jay, not knowing what to do, just stood awkwardly behind her until she was finished. 

Anne was feeling horrible by the time all the digesting food from her stomach disappeared. She wiped her mouth and got up on trembling legs, trying not to think about anything like "that" again. She hugged herself as she started to walk with Jay out of sight of the cabin. Anne didn't know exactly what time of the year it was. She only knew that it was slightly chilly which made goosebumps appear on her slender arms. 

It was strange how the scenery didn't seem to change as they kept walking through the forest. Every tree seemed to look alike no matter how far they strolled. Or maybe that was just Anne's brain playing tricks on her. Ever since her kidnapping, she had been much more prone to hallucinations. Maybe she had a case of PTSD. It seemed logical enough. 

Anne glanced over at Jay who seemed to be slightly struggling to trudge along but hiding his pain. She eyed his wound on his leg, building up the courage to ask him about it. "How'd you get that cut on your leg? And how'd you find me?"

Jay briefly looked at Anne before looking back at the woods ahead. "I was hiking with a few friends when we got separated. While I was looking for them, I fell in a ditch and hurt my leg pretty badly. I managed to get out and tried looking for help when I found the cabin you were in." He decided to keep the story brief. He looked once more at Anne and asked, "How'd you manage to get kidnapped?"

Anne pondered over his words for a moment before answering. "I'm not sure. I was just at home. I heard a noise outside my window and it wouldn't stop, so I decided to go outside to check it out. And suddenly, I was tied up in the basement of that cabin. I don't know what was up with the guy that did it. I think he's mentally deranged. I'm don't even know. It hurts my head to even think about it. I just want to go home."

Jay reassuringly patted Anne's shoulder. "Don't worry. You will, I'm sure of that."

A silence enveloped the duo after that as they continued to walk. The daylight was growing more sparse as the minutes ticked by. It didn't seem like they were getting any closer to civilization. They were going to have to rest for the night. 

As much as Anne loathed the idea of sleeping in a decrepit and possibly dying forest, there was no other choice since she didn't want to have to walk blind through the woods. Even the thought of nighttime in this neck of the woods terrified her.

The both of them set up camp, which was mostly just them lying on the ground and trying to conserve warmth. They decided to take shifts on staying awake just in case someone happened to wander along or something similar. They wanted to watch for help, or even run from danger if they had to. They had no idea what to expect. The first to keep watch was Jay, who reassured Anne that everything was going to be okay.

Anne breathed in and sighed deeply as she lied down on the cold ground, the dead leaves crucnching underneath her weight. It wasn't comfortable in the slightest, but she eventually was able to fall asleep. 

When she woke up again, she shot up, her eyes immediately opening in a panicked frenzy. She looked around in a hurry and noticed something was missing. "Jay? Jay, are you there?"

There was no answer.

Anne was all alone with no one to help her.

"Jay!?" Anne practically yelled out into the forest. "Anyone?!"

The forest only seemed to mock her as the wind rustled the leaves on the trees, almost as if they were cackling. Anne began to muster nonsensical things to herself, practically having a panic attack. She then started running in a random direction, in which direction she didn't care. She just wanted to get out of the woods. She wanted to go home. She wanted to see her parents again. She wanted to see her sister. She wanted her life back.

Anne gasped in relief as she saw a break in the treeline. She kept sprinting toward her target, not caring that her legs were killing her at this point. She was too filled with euphoria at the thought of escape to even care about her bodily needs at the moment. She could feel the tears she had been shedding moments ago start to dry by the wind as she ran. She swore that she could see her house from just beyond the line when she was suddenly tackled.

Anne hit the ground hard, her head practically cracking against the ground. There was quite a bit of momentum left from the impact that sent Anne and whatever object hitting her tumbling to the dirt. Her head was spinning and her vision was red, but she swore that she saw a glint of orange in the glow of the rising sun.

"You didn't think you could actually get away from me, did'ja?"


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A forest can be filled with deadly terrors of the night.

Anne woke up with a start as she felt the sensation of something shaking her shoulder. She immediately panicked and backed away from the person, assuming it was Toby. He was there to take her back. No, she couldn't stand it anymore. She wanted to go home. She didn't want to endure this anymore. She just wants to be free. 

Anne fought against her captor, violently resisting him before he suddenly spoke. "Hey! Hey, it's alright. It's me, Jay."

Anne stopped struggling when she realized that it wasn't Toby she was fighting against. She immediately broke down into an obvious but quiet sob. Tremors shook her entire body as she bawled, the pressure too much to handle. She was buckling under the weight of everything that was happening, and she couldn't do anything to stop it. The only thing she could do was to cling to the thing closest to her, which just so happened to be Jay. Her tears stained his already dirty shirt as they rolled down her face in endless supply. The only thing Jay could do to comfort her was to hug her and rub her back as she cried her eyes out. 

It was approximately thirty minutes later when Anne had quieted down to a mere sniffle. Her eyes were puffy and red from the excessive crying and her cheeks were a bright rosy color in contrast to her pale skin. But it wasn't like Jay could see her in the shadow of night. Her breathing was shallow but evened out, every breath sounding pained. Jay broke the silence in between the two. "Are you alright?"

Anne took a second to answer as she rubbed her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine now." She, in every definition of the word, was not fine. She was kidnapped and had a serial killer at her tail, and she was pretty sure she had a major case of PTSD. She had grown immensely paranoid to any sound or movement something made and was cautious, or tried to be, with any situation. Not to mention that she hadn't eaten in a long while and was starving and malnourished. She hadn't seen her family in months which made her want to cry again. But she didn't have any tears left to shed.

"Are you sure you can stay up?" Jay asked mildly concerned. Considering she went through a traumatic experience, he wasn't sure whether it was okay for her to stay up in a dark forest like this. Especially when whoever kidnapped get could be anywhere.

"Yeah, yeah. I can do this. Just get some sleep," Anne answered, though sounding somewhat distant.

"If you say so," Jay replied, still feeling unsure. "Just wake me up if you feel uncomfortable or scared."

Anne didn't answer. She just nodded her head in confirmation and kept a weary eye and ear on her surroundings. Jay sighed and scooted a few inches from where he was away from Anne, though not too far.

By now, Anne's eyes had adjusted to the darkness of it all, the moon helping with illumination. She could see the outlines of trees and bushes in the distance, but not in detail. She wouldn't be able to resort to her eyes if it came to spotting something or someone dangerous, so she would have to use her ears to hear for anything. For the most part, the only noises she could hear were from crickets releasing their music into the air, and cicadas which were buzzing loudly in unseen places. She would really have to train her ears hard, but that would be difficult since she was distracted by the rumbling of her stomach. She gripped her abdomen with a growing hunger that seemed to gnaw at her insides. She swallowed the pain down and focused on everything around her instead, keeping her mind distracted from the discomfort.

Unbeknownst to Anne, her mind had drifted off to thoughts of her family, especially to Marley. Not having thought about her in months made her heart ache. What happened to her during Anne's time gone? Was she still getting bullied at school? Anne didn't know how she must be feeling right now. Losing a sister wasn't easy, especially if you think she's dead when she's not. Whatever the outcome to this situation would be, Anne wants, no needs, to see her sister again. And she will eventually. Or at least, she hoped.

Anne's eyes snapped wide open as she heard the snapping of a branch nearby. She froze still, barely moving a muscle or even breathing. She strained her eyes to see if she could find whatever made the noise, but couldn't see anything. She skimmed her eyes around the surrounding area until she found a large figure stalking slowly towards them. It had the form of some sort of wild animal like a wolf or a bear even. 

Not thinking twice, she shook Jay's shoulder gently, trying not to alert the creature. Jay sharply inhaled as he woke up, knowing not to make a sound. Anne pointed the thing to him. Her heart was hammering in her chest as it approached. It wasn't that close, but it wasn't far off either. 

Jay slowly stood up, tugging on Anne's arm to suggest she do the same. Considering this was a wild animal, it probably wouldn't leave them alone and would most likely attack. A terrifying thought, yet a possibility. With no defense or anything, the only thing the duo could do would be to either run or hide. Hiding wasn't an option since the branches on the trees were too high up to reach, so running was the only thing they could do. Staying put would put them at the same risk of dying as if they ran. It wasn't exactly a situation in which they could win. So they ran as fast as they could.

They could hear the galloping steps of the creature behind them as well as the footfalls of their own feet crashing against the dead leaves of the forest ground. Anne was already out of breath after a few minutes of running for her life. Her heart was practically tearing itself out of her chest as she sprinted, her thoughts filled with dread. Jay, on the other hand, was almost struggling as much as her considering his injury only allowed him to run so fast. 

The sky was starting to illuminate as the sun started to rise over the horizon. It made it extremely easier to see, which meant that Anne could now see exactly what was chasing her. She truned her head around, not slowing down her pace. That was her first mistake. The thing looked awful, as if it were out of some sort of horror film. It's looked like some sort of wolf but it was as big as a bear, if not bigger. It was horrific to say the least. It's black fur was matted and coated with some sort of substance that Anne couldn't and didn't want to identify. It's muzzle was red and sharp, over grown teeth were protruding from its mouth. Even worse was the creepy smile it help on it's face. How would a normal animal even smile like that? It's eyes were wide and unblinking, knowing that Anne had taken a peek. The looks of the creature only made Anne run faster, fueling her adrenaline rush. 

Suddenly, Anne's heart stopped as Jay tripped over a tree root hidden in the leaves. "JAY!" she screamed, skidding to a stop. 

"No, go without me! Please!" Jay yelled at Anne. There wouldn't be enough time to help him up. Even if there was, he was sure he twisted his ankle. It was obvious that he was going to die.

Anne hesitated before seeing the pleasing look in Jay's eyes. She grimaced and ran as fast as she could in the opposite direction of the creature. It hurt her to abandon her newly found friend to die, but it was either that, or they both die. She didn't want to abandon him, but she didn't want to abandon her family either. She made a promise to herself that she was going to see them again. 

Anne could hear a loud scream coming from behind her, though it got quieter the farther she ran. She could feel the unwanted tears streaming down her face as the terrified and painful shrieks faded away into the distance. But no matter what, Anne didn't stop running for anything. She was almost out of energy and was extremely dehydrated, but she kept running. She had almost collapsed when she realized that she recognized this part of the woods. She immediately knew where to go from there. She almost broke down in tears again when she saw the outline of her house. 

With a new found energy, she ran for the house and to the front door, banging on it with all her might. "Mom! Dad! Marley! I'm here! I'm home! Please, let me in!"

Anne could hear the rushing of footsteps to the front door as it opened up. Her parents were right in front of her, safe and alive. They immediately hugged her, almost sufficating her, but it was a wonderful feeling. She missed this very much so. 

She then broke down crying, her legs feeling numb underneath her. She collapsed and then everything went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, this isn't close to the end of the book. There's still roughly ten or more chapters I need to write for this to come to the conclusion I want. Anyways, hope you enjoyed reading and remember to leave comments about what you think!


	14. Home Free

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing ever ends. It just pauses.

Time had gone by incredibly fast as the end of winter melted into spring. It was the right time for flowers to start blooming and for leaves to start growing on tree limbs again. The sun was finally starting to gain some strength and send heat to the earth below in attempt to warm up all the creatures that roamed the world. 

One of these creatures, or humans, was Anne Jennings, a survivor of a kidnapping that happened only one month prior. After finding her way home, she was taken to the hospital and was found to be incredibly malnourished and dehydrated, not to mention that she had a small case of anemia. Over the time she had spent in the hospital, she and her family have gotten closer and spent as much time together as they possibly could. 

An investigation took place shortly after her reappearance. Anne was questioned, but after a month with no leads, no evidence, and no culprit or anyone who matched the perpetrator's description, it was filed as a cold case. Whatever information the victim had told the police seemed to hold no evidence, nor did they find the place she kept mentioning. With her being in the state she was, she started going to therapy for her newly formed PTSD and given perscription mediation for her anxiety and paranoia.

Although the medication had seemed to help her some, she continues to have hallucinations of monsters in the night taking the forms of many things. Although she had gotten close with her parents, she was scared of her own little sister, scared that her face would have two gaping holes and that her skin would be covered in cuts and bruises if Anne so much as spoke to her. It broke Marley's heart to watch her sister go through such torment, though she grew used to Anne's avoidance of her after a few months.

____________________

It was another cold night, though Anne stayed warm underneath her blankets in her own bed in her own house. But she wasn't sleeping, no, far from it. She could never sleep anymore. She was deathly terrified of anything and everything in the dark, so much so that her parents had pulled out a nightlight from their attic which Anne hadn't used since she was a kid. The extra light that the nightlight emitted wasn't exactly comforting to her however. It just seemed to amplify everything even more, casting shadows which Anne perceived as people, monsters, and other atrocities.

Anytime she sleeps anymore, all she can hear are the piercing screeches of Jay, her now deceased friend who had tried to help her escape from Toby's clutches. The psychological torment that she had been put through was immense and completely messed up her psyche. She was unable to go back to school with how her mental stability was at an all-time low. She was afraid of everything now and she could only blame it on Toby. It was his fault that everything was so fucked up now. 

Everything was his fault. 

His fault. 

His fault. 

His fault.

_________________________

A week later, Anne finally thought that she would be able to go to sleep. Why did she have to be wrong? She shot up from her bed suddenly as she heard a creak in her room. She felt the familiar shiver of terror running down her spine, her senses being spiked up tenfold as she glanced around her darkened room, trying to spot any lump or shadow out of the ordinary. She didn't have the night light in her room anymore as it had been broken after years of misuse then finally reuse. How she regretted not sleeping in her parents bed tonight.

After almost thirty minutes of no more noise besides the air conditioning of the house humming to life, Anne tried to lay down once more and go to sleep. When she found that she couldn't, she tried to turn over to get more comfy. What she didn't expect though was to see a face staring back at her.

Anne shrieked as she attempted to scramble off of her bed, though a hand with a strong grip caught her ankle before she could. She slipped and hit the corner of her bed with her abdomen which sent air running out of her chest. Whatever grabbed her attempted to pull her towards them, though Anne was putting up a fight. Their fingers dug into Anne's skin, their nails painfully puncturing crescent shaped holes into her flesh. Anne screamed again, though this time in pain. Why haven't her parents come into the room yet? Didn't they hear her terrified screaming? 

As Anne tried to fight whoever the thing was off, she slammed the heel of her other foot, which just so happened to be free, onto the person's jaw which let out a sickening crack as their head whipped back. The pressure around her ankle ceased as the hand let go, the body flopping back onto the bed.

Anne rushed to get up, a throbbing pain in her ankle and lower calf slowing her down. Her heart was hammering wildly in her chest from fear, threatening to burst out and cause a heart attack. She was about to rush to her parents for some sort of protection but stopped, her hand hovering just right above the doorknob to the exit. Just who was it that attacked her? And since that crackle of sound seemed to come from it, did that mean that her kick was strong enough to break it's neck? Anne tried to turn on the lights, though it didn't work, so instead she turned on her bedside lamp. 

On her bed was the body of a boy, no older than she was, though give or take a few years. His clothing was slightly messy and cut up with a few questionable stains splattered here and there, which were most likely dried blood. But his face. When she saw his face, she was frozen in fear, a tremor rushing through her body that kept her glued to the floor she was standing on.

The boy immediately shot up and wrapped his hands around Anne's throat, tackling her to the ground where she hit it roughly. He was digging into her windpipe with his fingers, cutting off her breathing wild tried to hold down her flailing legs and trying to keep her arms from hitting him. He was grinning all the while he watched her pass out from lack of oxygen. 

Toby let out a single laugh before he spoke again in that psychotic voice of his. 

"Did you miss me?"


End file.
